Nor is this all. By a natural bent of our mind, all our studies are carried on with reference to Man as the centre of all things. A knowledge of our planet is, therefore, imperfect as long as it is not joined to a knowledge of the various races of man which inhabit it. The earth which man treads is but imperfectly known, man himself even less so. The first origin of races is shrouded in absolute darkness, and the most learned disagree with reference to the descent, the amalgamation, the original seats, and migratory stages of most peoples and tribes. What do men owe to their surroundings? What to the original seats of their ancestors, to inborn instincts of race, to a blending with alien races, or to influences and traditions brought to bear upon them from beyond? We hardly know, and as yet only a few rays of light begin to penetrate this darkness. Unfortunately our erroneous views on many of these questions are not due solely to ignorance. Contending passions and instinctive national hatreds too frequently obscure our judgment, and we see man as he is not. The far-off savages assume the shape of dim phantoms, and our near neighbours and rivals in the arts of civilisation appear repulsive and deformed of feature. If we would see them as they really are, we must get rid of all our prejudices, and of those feelings of contempt, hatred, and passion which still set nation against nation. Our forefathers, in their wisdom, said that the most difficult thing of all was to know one’s self. Surely a comprehensive study of mankind is more difficult still. We are thus not in a position at present to furnish a complete account of the earth and its inhabitants. The accomplishment of this task we must leave to the future, when fellow-workers from all quarters of the globe will meet to write the grand book embodying the sum of human knowledge. For the present an {3} individual author must rest content with giving a succinct account of the Earth, in which the space occupied by each country shall be proportionate to its importance, and to the knowledge we possess with respect to it.